Pasta E Fagioli Revisited

Pictures make a blog come alive, right?  Well, when I first started my blog, I didn’t add pictures.  I’ve learned my lesson.  During my marathon cooking session this week, one of the recipes I decided to make was Giada’s Pasta E Fagioli.  Like a good little blogger, I took lots of pictures throughout the cooking process but when I went to create a blog about them, I had this nagging feeling I’d already put it on the blog.  Turns out I was right!

GDL’s Pasta E Fagioli

Back in January of 2010, I wrote “I saw this recipe in Giada de Laurentiis’ Giada’s Family Dinners cookbook and thought it sounded like a yummy filling soup on a cold day.  I was right.  It was a-mazing.  I loved it.  I couldn’t get enough!”  It’s still as fabulous today as I originally thought!  I’m demanding you make this soup.  It’s seriously one of my favorite soups I’ve made!  I only wish I had made a double batch yesterday!

Break FAST

While I was visiting my dad’s side of the family for Christmas this year, my cousin Melissa told me about a dish she eats quite often for breakfast.  Quick, easy, FAST.  Sounded like the perfect breakfast for me as I’m always running a cool 5 minutes behind in the morning.

She told me about egg cups, which are pretty much exactly what they sound like:  cups filled with frozen eggs, cheese, and other various fixins.

It took me a long time to try them, but today was the day!  I am off work today and tomorrow so utilizing my time is a must!

I opted to use onions, turkey bacon, and asiago cheese today, but the varieties are endless!  Turkey sausage, cheddar cheese, sundried tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, spinach, ham, red pepper…just to name a few. Anything you’d have in an omelet is perfect here!

They are so simple.  You just mix, pour, bake, cool, and freeze!  Yes, please!

Egg Cups
(adapted from onceamonthmom.com)

4 whole eggs
4 egg whites
1 tbsp milk
1 onion, diced
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic gold nuggets in oil
5 slices turkey bacon, crisped
1/2 cup asiago cheese, shredded
3 slices whole wheat bread, quartered
salt, pepper, other herbs and spices to taste

Begin by preheating your oven to 450°.
In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Saute your onions until soft and slightly browned.  I added a bit of garlic gold nuggets here just because I can.  I’m a garlic lover after all.  Once browned, remove from pan and cook the turkey bacon in the same pan until crisp.  Remove and drain on paper towels.  Once drained, chop up relatively small. In a medium bowl, wisk together the eggs, egg whites, and milk until well incorporated.  Add the onions, turkey bacon, and asiago cheese and wisk together.  At this point, you can add any spices you like.  I used salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper.  We like things spicy around these here parts.  Once everything is good and mixed up, pour evenly into silicone lined (or cooking sprayed) muffin tins.  Bake at 450 for 12 minutes or until eggs are set.

You can either eat them right away or freeze for grab and go breakfasts.  Once A Month Mom suggests defrosting the cups overnight in the fridge and then reheating on 50% power for 90 seconds.  I have a feeling you could defrost them in the microwave on 30% power for a few minutes and then heat through after slightly defrosted.  I’ll have to play around with it and let you know.

Bonus Round!  I have found many people don’t really know how to cut an onion quickly and efficiently.  Today, because I love you, I have explained the process.  Enjoy!

Salad Zinger

Lately, I have found myself eating a lot of salads. One of my favorite salads to eat is romaine topped with cranberries, pistachios, and grilled chicken. I typically use a light ranch or something like that, but I’m trying to eat less creamy dressings and instead reaching for more vinegar based dressings.

Yesterday, I used Ken’s Steak House Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette. It was good, but a bit too sweet for my liking. Then I realized what was missing…cheese! Bleu cheese to be exact. I don’t love bleu cheese, so I don’t keep it in the house that often, but it would have been a yummy addition.

Instead, I decided Parmesan cheese would have worked great too.  That reminded me of something the food network talent is always making…Parmesan crisps!  They are a great addition to most anything from salads to mashed potatoes to steak!  Very versatile, they could even be a “cracker” of sorts.

First, you preheat your oven.  Then, if you haven’t already, chunk up a block of Parmesan and grind it with the regular blade in your food processor until small, fluffy pieces.  If you don’t have a food processor, you can always use a hand or box grater…it will just take you a little longer.

Next, on a silpat (or cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray), spread the Parmesan in 1 tbsp mounds around the pan.  Try to flatten out the mounds a bit so they can get gold and bubbly.

Top with whatever you like.  I did black pepper, Garlic Gold nuggets, and smoked paprika on mine.

Bake until nice and golden.

Play with kitties in the morning sun.

Remove from the oven and let cool, then serve or store in between paper towels in a zip top bag.  I’m not sure how long they are good for as I tend to gobble them up quite fast.  I’m guessing they would be OK for a day or two, but much longer would be pushing it.

Parmesan Crisps
6 tbsp Parmesan Cheese, grated
Black Pepper
Garlic Gold nuggets
Smoked Paprika

Preheat oven to 400º.  Spread tablespoons of Parmesan in even layers around on a silpat lined or cooking spray prepped cookie sheet.  Bake until golden brown (about 5 minutes).  Keep your eye on the cheese so you don’t burn it.  Remove from the oven when baked and let cool.  Crumble over salads, mashed potatoes, or anything else that could use a little zing!

What are your favorite salad fixins?

Magic Mushrooms

One of my favorite things to have on hand is sauteed mushrooms.  I think they have the ability to punch up most dishes with a burst of flavor.  They are easy to make and extremely versatile.  I put sauteed mushrooms in just about anything from pastas to sauces to salads to eggs.  They are super healthy and can add a meat like component to your dish with a fraction of the fat and calories!

Sauteed Mushrooms
1 container mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
salt
pepper
Optional:  garlic, crushed red pepper, pesto, oregano, etc (you can use just about anything to flavor your mushrooms)

In a saucepan over medium high heat, warm your oil.  Add the mushrooms and cook until golden brown.  Do not add salt yet, as salt draws out the water, which makes the browning process take longer.

Once your mushrooms are browned, add your salt, pepper, and any other seasonings you want.  My favorite is garlic and crushed red pepper…obviously.  Mix well and cook until fragrant.  Remove from heat and serve or store to use later.

Sauteed mushrooms make a terrific accompaniment to grilled steaks!  They also work fabulously in stir fry.  One dish I made just this morning was Mushroom and Egg Tortilla.

Scrambled egg whites combined with the mushrooms and stuffed into a tortilla shell covered with mexican cheese and melted.  All that got topped with chunky salsa.  It was a good morning in the One Girl household!

What is your favorite way to make mushrooms?

Ground Turkey Four Ways

Do you ever buy those big, five pound packs of Jennie O turkey from Sams?  Ever got it home and thought, “What the heck do I do with this now?”  Well…I’m going to show you how to turn this:

into four healthy, delicious dishes.

First thing’s first.  Grab two onions and diced them. Then saute them until they are very tender and slightly browned.

Recipe 1:  Sloppy Joe
You’ll need:
1/2 of the onions
1 pound ground turkey
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
1/2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
salt
crushed red pepper flake (optional)

Brown the ground turkey in a pan over medium heat, breaking it up as you go.  Once the turkey is nearly cooked through, add the onions.  Continue cooking until done, then add the rest of the ingredients and stir.  Cook over medium low heat until mixture is warmed through and the flavors are combined.  Serve with hamburger buns or, as I do, with Saltines!

Tip:  I like to leave my joes on low while I make the other recipes so the flavors REALLY have a chance to meld.

Recipe 2:  Mini Turkey Meatloaves

You’ll need:
1.25 pounds turkey
1/2 of the onions
1 egg
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 tbsp worchestershire sauce
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 garlic clove, grated
salt
pepper
crushed red pepper flake (optional)

Preheat oven to 400º.  In a small bowl, combine all the ingredient above.  Since I have nails now, I like to don protective gear (Sunday morning=no makeup):

I absolutely hate the feeling of junk under my nails, so this step is a must for me!  See how I go from cruddy, yucky, latex hand to clean, sparkley, naked hand?  It’s like magic!

Spray a muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with silicone liners.

I got these cuties at World Market at 6 for $2.49 each!  I have lots and lots and lots of plans for these babies!

Divide your mixture evenly among the 12 cups.  Place the pan on a cookie sheet (to prevent drippage) and bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until cooked through.

Now, I have a confession.  I didn’t make a ketchup/brown sugar sauce like usual because, well, I’m out of ketchup.  SO my plan for these are to let them cool, then freeze them and make a sauce later.

If you are awesome enough to have ketchup on hand, I would combine 1/2 cup ketchup, 1-2 tbsp brown sugar, a dash of worchestershire, and possibly a little hot sauce in a pan and heat through, then pour over the mini loaves.  But that’s me.

*Funny side note…after I typed this up, I went downstairs to my “stockpile” of foods and whatnot and saw…you guessed it…a bottle of ketchup.  Doh!

Recipe 3:  Turkey Sausage Sauce

OK, I don’t know about your grocery store, but mine doesn’t have a big selection of turkey sausage.  You would think after all this business about Americans being so overweight and having too much fat in their diets, the turkey plants would be jumping on the chance to make turkey and chicken EVERYTHING!

Last week, for the first time EVER, I found turkey Italian sausage in my deli case at Kroger.  I grabbed a package and cooked it up to make a turkey sausage pasta dish.  Well, the idea was fantastic.  The turkey, not so much.  It was good, don’t get me wrong, but the flavors were a bit off.

Jeff and I decided they put the same seasonings they would put in pork in the turkey.  That’s a great idea in theory, but, since turkey is milder than pork, the flavors were overpowering.  I decided finally to make my own turkey sausage adapted from this recipe (found at allrecipes.com). I decided the recipe would work better with 2.5 pounds of meat instead of just 2 pounds so as not to overpower the dish.

You’ll need:
1 tsp ground back pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp Italian style seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
3/4 tsp crushed anise seed
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp salt
2.5 pounds ground turkey

In a bowl, add the dry ingredients.

Shimmy and shake and mix ‘em all up.

Don protective gear for the second time!

And combine thoroughly.  Split mixture in two and cover half in plastic wrap. This can be frozen to be enjoyed later in the year.

In a saucepan, cook the other half of the mixture over medium heat until done.  Add a jar of your favorite pasta sauce, a cup of chicken or beef broth, and simmer for as long as you like.  I typically like to let my sauce simmer for at least an hour if possible.  Serve over your favorite pasta for a quick and easy weeknight meal.

Tip:  With meat sauces, a heartier pasta is the better choice.  I like penne, rigatoni, or rotini because the meat and sauce gets trapped in and around the noodles.  But that’s me. 

Recipe 4:  Turkey Burgers
(no picture because Jeff ate them all!)
1 pound ground turkey
season salt

My husband doesn’t cook much, but he does like to make turkey burgers.  I must say, his burgers are pretty darn tasty.  All he does is takes ground turkey and adds a little season salt to his meat.  He mixes well, then forms them into patties.

Then in a small saucepan, he heats up a scant bit of oil and essentially fries his burgers until they are slightly crispy on the outside and cooked through on the inside.  Top these burgers with your condiments of choice and enjoy!

Tip:  When I am watching my calorie intake, I omit having a bun with these burgers and go for a nice, big side salad instead.  I also try to limit the amount of ketchup I eat with the burger, since ketchup contains a lot of sugar.

These are four simple but delicious ways to enjoy ground turkey.  Basically any recipe that calls for ground meat, you can substitute turkey.  Sometimes you may have to adjust things to compensate for the milder flavor of the turkey and sometimes you won’t. That’s part of the fun of cooking though…playing with your food!

Now, dear friends, I must go install my Spice Rack I got for Christmas.  I realized while I was making the sausage I have a spice organization problem!

What is your favorite way to use ground turkey?  How do you organize your spices?

Tortellini with Peas and Pancetta

Who wants a quick, easy, delicious meal that you can throw together in less than 30 minutes?

I DO!  I DO!

I saw this article in Food Network Magazine and it had some of my favorite things in it.  Garlic, Parmesan, pasta, cream half and half.  Yum!  I whipped this up in no time last night!  Try it.  You’ll like it!

Tortellini with Peas and Pancetta
(inspired by Food Network Magazine‘s April 2010 issue)

1 pound meat filled tortellini
2 tbsp olive oil
3 ounces pancetta, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup half and half
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1 cup Le Seur peas, drained
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Once it reaches a boil, salt the water and cook the tortellini according to the package’s instructions.

In another saucepan over medium heat, warm up your oil and start to brown your pancetta.  You want the pancetta to be nice and crispy.  It will take about 5 minutes.

Grate in your garlic…

keep your tortellini from boiling over…

and add the tomato paste.  Stir to combine and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute).

Add about a cup of pasta water and simmer until reduced by half (3-4 minutes).

Add the half and half.  Simmer until slightly thickened (2-3 minutes).

Add a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes for good measure.  You know how we do in the Desjarlais house.

A few minutes before the tortellini is done, add your peas to the water.  You want to warm them up so you don’t bite into a cold pea in your warm pasta.  (The original recipe called for frozen peas, so this step would be doubly important if you’re using frozen.)

Drain the peas and pasta and add to the sauce.  Toss to coat.

Top with parmesan cheese and serve with toasty warm croissants (optional).

Easy, peasy, Japanese-y! (This meal literally came together by the time I had heated up the oven and cooked the croissants.  It’s that quick.)

What’s your favorite go to meal during the week?

Balsamic Oven Potatoes

I don’t know about you, but I’m always looking for a new way to make potatoes (both white and sweet).  I, like most red blooded Americans, love potatoes in nearly every form.

Except mashed.  (I’ll wait for you to pick your jaws up off the floor.)  I like mashed potatoes, but I’d rather have something with a little crunch.  I know.  I’m weird.  Moving on…

Any time I find a recipe that looks interesting, I clip it, bookmark it, email it, etc.  Remember the sweet potato recipe from Thanksgiving?  (BTW, yum!) It was clipped from Real Simple.

One of the recipes I saw recently involved balsamic vinegar, which I also happen to love.  When Jeff and I decided to make steaks the other night, I thought it was a great opportunity to whip up these bad boys.

Balsamic Oven Potatoes
(adapted from allrecipes.com)

2 tbsp olive oil
2 pounds red potatoes, quartered
1 small onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, grated
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400°.  Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat.  Saute your potatoes and onions in the oil.

Add in your garlic.  I like to grate my garlic with a small toothed microplane because it distributes the garlic more evenly.

Add your rosemary, thyme, and nutmeg.  Toss to coat.  Cook for 4-5 minutes or until potatoes are heated through.

Transfer pan to oven only if your pan is oven safe! If it’s not, transfer vegetables to a 9×13″ baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.  Your pan should say on the bottom, but if you’re not sure, better to be safe than sorry.  Go with the baking dish.

Cook at 400° for 25-30 minutes or until the potatoes are almost tender.  Add the vinegar, salt, and pepper and toss to coat.  Continue cooking in the oven for 5-8 minutes or until the potatoes are completely tender.  Serve warm…

with bacon wrapped, Gorgonzola topped filets and rolls.

And wine.

*The balsamic vinegar gets sweeter the longer it cooks.  My potatoes were a little too sweet, so next time I’d add just a pinch more salt to even things out.  Be sure to taste them before serving to get the flavor just right.

What is your favorite way to make or eat potatoes?

Puppy Chow

The other day I was at the grocery store trying to figure out what exactly I’d like to eat for breakfast.  My standard fare of oatmeal (overnight or otherwise) just wasn’t cutting it anymore.  I’m not sure if I got tired of oats or if pregnancy has something to do with it, but the thought of eating oatmeal makes me kind of sicky feeling.

So there I was, standing in the cereal aisle at Kroger, trying to pick out a cereal that sounded good and wasn’t horrible for me.  My eyes landed on Honey Nut Chex.  OK, so it’s not the best cereal out there, but it’s certainly not the worst!  I grabbed a box and continued on my way.

As I was finishing my grocery shopping, I started to think how great the honey nut Chex would be in puppy chow!  Here’s something you may not know about me:  one of my absolute favorite combinations on earth is chocolate and peanut butter.  I would bath in peanut butter and chocolate if I could.  OK, maybe not, but I could probably make myself sick by eating so much of it.

Puppy chow, for those of you who are unfamiliar, is cereal that is coated with a peanut butter/chocolate mixture and topped with powdered sugar.  Sounds fabulous, I know.  Here’s the recipe I used:

Puppy Chow
(adapted from allrecipes.com)

9 cups Chex cereal
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 regular sized Hershey bars
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

In a double boiler (a pan of water set to simmer with a glass bowl perched over it), melt your chocolate.  Make sure the water isn’t touching the bottom of the bowl.

Once your chocolate is melted, add in your peanut butter and stir to combine.

In a big bowl, combine the melted chocolate and peanut butter with the cereal.  Try to coat each piece.

Move the cereal to a zip top bag and dump on the powdered sugar.

Shake to coat.

I like to spread mine out on a cookie sheet just to knock off some of the excess sugar, but today I decided it would be fun to dump part of my treat on myself.

And the floor.

It still turned out fabulous although I would double the peanut butter next time.

Fun little tip:  if your niece comes over, who is already hyper mind you, this treat may not be the best snack to offer her.  She may start bouncing off the walls uncontrollably!  But then she leaves.  Hee hee hee.

Do you have any favorite childhood treats you still love as an adult?

Slow Cooker French Dip (with Au Jus)

(Leaves being blown off the trees the other night)

Wouldn’t you love to come home to the warm, welcoming smells of dinner, piping hot and ready for you?  I know I do.  I work full time in a retail environment.  This means I am not always home for dinner, leaving my wonderful, yet kitchen challenged husband to fend for himself more often than I would like.  I try to help him out by making casseroles or crock pot meals ahead of time so it seems like I’m home even when I’m not.

I was bumming around on the web the other day and stumbled across this recipe on Tasty Kitchen.  It sounded delightful, so I gave it a go.

Jeff said it was really good!  He loved that I provided some yummy sub rolls and provolone cheese to go with it.  I had intended to have some caramelized onions on the side as well, but I got a little distracted with my computer and they went from golden brown to black in record time.

This recipe was so quick and easy to throw together!  It will definitely be going in my “must make again” pile!

Slow Cooker French Dip (with Au Jus)
(From Tasty Kitchen)

3.5 pounds Beef Chuck Roast
1 can Beef Consumme
1 bottle Beer
2 cubes Beef Bullion
1 package Onion Soup Mix

Sprinkle your beef roast with whatever seasonings you want.  Megan (the recipe’s author) suggested salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.  That sounded good to me!

Place your roast in the crock pot. Combine the consumme and the soup mix.  Pour over the roast.

Add your beer.  The flavor gets concentrated, so pick one you like.  Megan says the darker and richer the beer, the better flavor the au jus has, which I can understand.  I went with Sam Adams’ Octoberfest.

Don’t you love when it bubbles and froths like that?

Finally add in your bullion cubes.  Cook on low for 7-8 hours. Remove meat and shred with a fork.

Serve with a toasted roll and provolone cheese.

*If I could make one change to this recipe, I would add a tablespoon or two of brown sugar to the mix.  I felt like it needed just a hint of sweetness the mixture didn’t provide.

*Also, after reading the reviews just now, one lady mentioned adding some horseradish mayo to the sub.  Holy goodness, that sounds yummy!  You might want to try that if you have some on hand.  I bet it would be a welcome addition!

Now I’m gonna go make some Puppy Chow.  If you haven’t had it, you must make it.  Do yourself a favor and make sure you have peanut butter, chocolate (chips or bars), powdered sugar, and chex cereal on hand.  Recipe to follow!

And you may be wondering how the patio is coming.  Jeff and I decided to wait and reveal the patio when it is completed.  We are probably about two or three days away from that, though.  Here’s a little tidbit to tide you over…

Corn & Black Bean Salsa

When I get an idea for a blog, I create a new post in WordPress and then hit “Save Draft” so I can remember to come back to it when I have time.  This way I don’t forget about a post and I can take some time to write out exactly what I want to say instead of just getting my idea down on the computer.

Unfortunately that results in something like this:

I get so many ideas for recipes or restaurants to review or just things that happen to me that I want to share, but I don’t have time to do it.  Working retail plus entertaining my husband takes up a lot of my time.  I don’t apologize though.  I am thankful to have a job in this economy and I am doubly thankful to have a husband who actually wants to spend time with me.  When I get a morning off, I take full advantage of the situation and try to catch up with my posts.  SO…with that being said, I give you a very quick, very easy recipe my coworker, Julie, made yesterday.  Enjoy!

Corn and Black Bean Salsa
Makes 8 cups

2 cans whole kernel corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 red onion, finely diced
1 green pepper, finely diced
1 bottle Italian dressing

Mix all ingredients together and serve with tortilla chips.

This is the easiest recipe I have ever put on my blog, but it’s also one of the most delicious!  I don’t know why the Italian dressing works so well here, but it does.  In my opinion, you could use just half a bottle of Italian dressing and be OK, but the original recipe calls for a full bottle, so that’s what I wrote.  (The label below reflects the salsa only and does not include any dippers.)

I’d also like to mention yesterday was my three year anniversary with my wonderful husband, Jeff.  We had a great time staying in and relaxing after each having extremely stressful days at work.  Love you, honey!